


Church Boys

by fluffywinkos



Series: One-shots [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Im lov them, M/M, church boys uwu, good christian boiyos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 05:04:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18653458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffywinkos/pseuds/fluffywinkos
Summary: A new face brings new feelings and experiences for the young devout boy, Lee Donghyuck.





	Church Boys

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this a good while ago but i wanted to bring it back so we out here uwu

Donghyuck always loved Sundays. He would wake up at around five o’clock to get himself ready, and his parents would take him down to the church to prepare for mass. Donghyuck only served alternating masses, first the seven thirty, then the eleven o’clock. He would only serve the others on rare occasions, such as when the others that did serve those masses couldn’t attend.

He never missed a day. Every week, he went to the church and served at the altar, for what was going to be sixteen years. He always loved the atmosphere, and the people that were around him every time he went.

It was a fine Spring day, a week before Holy Week, when Donghyuck saw a new face at school. He attended the church’s private school, and since it was such a small town, he knew everyone.

The new boy looked to be around a year older than him, with jet black hair and round glasses, around the same height as Donghyuck, and with features that were a smidge more mature. Donghyuck felt a feeling that he’d never experienced before. He couldn’t describe the pull in his chest, his chest tightening, or his temperature rising. He almost didn’t want to approach the other boy, but as vice president of the tiny student body, it was kind of his job.

He set his bag down at the table in the student body’s meeting room, where the new student would be arriving shortly. Donghyuck busied himself with studying and occasionally chatting with the other council members.

It was only a short fifteen minutes before he heard a soft knock on the door, the president being first to get up and answer it.

“Oh! You must be the new student! Hi, I’m Na Jaemin, president of the student body, but you’re here to meet our vice president.”

The boy looked over at Donghyuck, who sat in his chair with no slouch. Donghyuck stood, and approached him with a smile.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck, our vice president. I’ll be the one showing you around and helping you get used to our school,” he said, the other boy remaining silent.

“Not one for talking, eh?” the treasurer, Jeno, spoke, Donghyuck letting out a gasp. “Don’t say that! Sorry about him,” he apologized with his head hung low.

“It’s okay, he’s kind of right.”

Donghyuck lifted his head up to look at the boy in front of him.

“It’s nice to meet you all, my name’s Mark,” the boy said, adjusting his collar before giving a bow.

“When do you want me to show you around?” Donghyuck asked. It was likely he would want to be shown around before classes, but he figured he should still ask.

“How about now?” Mark said, “Unless you have something you need to do. I don't wanna take up your time.”

Donghyuck smiled at him. “Now is great. Shall we?” he replied, grabbing his bag from the table and slinging it over his shoulder. Mark nodded, and Donghyuck led the way out.

“Let's start with the commons area,” Donghyuck spoke as they reached said location. “This is where most everything is held. You'll eat lunch here, dances are held here, teams practice here, all kinds of stuff.”

“Here's the gym, I'd take you in, but there's practice going on.” Donghyuck looked to Mark, the other boy adjusting his glasses.

They finished the tour in a short fifteen minutes, since the school was relatively small.

“This place is a lot smaller than my old school,” Mark said as they entered the student body's meeting room once again. “I used to go to a public school, but when we moved, my parents decided they wanted a more...focused education for me.”

“I can see why. This school has a great rep among all the others,” Donghyuck replied with a smile.

“Oh, classes are gonna start soon. Do you know where you're going?” Donghyuck asked, casting his eyes back up to Mark's face.

“Yeah. Thank you again,” the other replied, leaving the meeting room and heading off to his first class.

[]

That Sunday, Donghyuck was surprised to see Mark joining him as an altar boy. The two made eye contact, having to keep silent as they were still being instructed pre-mass.

Donghyuck noticed himself glancing at Mark throughout the entire mass. He was usually so focused, making sure he was doing his job right, but during this mass, he was so distracted that he forgot to hand the bread and wine over for communion. 

It wasn’t until the end of mass that they got to talk, Donghyuck following after Mark while he was on his way out.

“Father Seo didn’t tell us that you would be joining,” the younger said, his hand on Mark’s wrist from when he stopped him in his tracks. “I gave notice like a month ago… I don’t know why he didn’t mention it.” Now that Donghyuck thought about it, he might have mentioned it once or twice.

“Are you serving the eleven o’clock?” Donghyuck asked, letting go of Mark’s wrist as the latter had noticed and wouldn’t stop staring at it.

“Yeah, why?” Donghyuck smiled. “I’m serving that one too!” Mark chuckled at the younger’s excitement. “You wanna grab breakfast together while we wait?” he asked, leading Donghyuck to the parking lot. “Sure! I know a great place that my parents take me to a lot,” Donghyuck replied, taking out his phone. “I have to text them first, though. They won’t mind, I just don’t want to get in trouble, y’know?” Mark nodded. “My parents are the same way.”

They walked to the restaurant, Donghyuck leading the whole way. Mark felt a stirring in his chest as he watched Donghyuck skip down the sidewalk with a smile on his face. The feeling was foreign, he couldn’t quite label it. The boy in front of him was glowing with the sun shining on in skin, his all-white outfit reflecting the sun rays even more.

Mark shook the feeling off as Donghyuck led him into the restaurant. They were seated at a booth near a window, and Mark began looking through the menu. He kept glancing up at the other boy, noticing when he rested his chin on his palm, his eyes looking tired while he sighed through the small gap between his lips.

The feeling came back, his face getting hot and his palms getting sweaty. He shook the feeling off again, picking out what he wanted to eat. The waitress came over within a few minutes, the two of them ordering.

[]

It had already been about two months, and Donghyuck and Mark had become good friends.

Mark entered the classroom, his eyes immediately meeting Donghyuck’s. He had guessed that the boy was waiting for him, and took his seat right next to him.

“What’s got you so excited?” he asked, noticing the brilliant smile on the younger’s face.

“We have projects coming up for this class, and we get to work with partners!” Donghyuck said, causing Mark to chuckle.

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to work with Jeno!” Mark replied, earning a frown from Donghyuck. “Hey! I was just kidding!” He said, moving his head to look Donghyuck in the eyes. He noticed that the other boy had started to stare at him, his eyes moving from Mark’s own eyes, to his nose, then to his lips, sticking in that one place for a bit, then moving back up to his eyes.

“Hey...Hyuck,” Mark spoke, tapping Donghyuck on the nose, breaking his daze. Donghyuck’s face went red, and Mark moved back to sit up in his own seat. He felt a bit of warmth on his own face, using his hand to cool himself down.

The teacher then entered the classroom, catching the class’ attention with a light tap on the board.

[]

The last day to work on their project had come, and Donghyuck was over at Mark’s house, the two of them working in his room.

“What do we have left to finish?” Donghyuck asked as Mark pulled out his laptop.

“Just the works cited and a bit of editing. We should be able to get it done in less than an hour,” the older boy replied, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

Mark had this serious demeanor when they were working, he didn’t fool around. It was in this moment, his eyes moving all over Mark’s face, when he realized that he felt stronger for Mark than he previously thought.

_‘No, no, not me.’ ‘Boys should be with girls.’ ‘What would my parents think?’_ Thoughts like these ran through his head, his heart pumping and hands trembling.

“Hyuck,” he heard Mark say. It sounded like he had been trying to get his attention for a little while.

“Huh?” Donghyuck saw the look on Mark’s face, the boy turning the laptop towards him.

“I finished. Since we didn’t use that many sources and there wasn’t much editing to do-- Hey, are you okay?” Mark said, putting the laptop down and leaning forward to get a closer look at Donghyuck’s state.

“I-I’m fine.” Mark didn’t seem to believe him. The older put a hand to his face. “You’re warm. Are you feeling sick?” he asked, unconsciously running his thumb over Donghyuck’s cheek.

Mark felt Donghyuck grab his wrist, removing his hand from his face. He met the younger’s eyes, seeing the panic hidden within them.

“What’s wrong?” Donghyuck looked to the floor, mumbling “I can’t tell you.”

Mark frowned. He wanted to know what was wrong with his friend, he wanted to protect him. It was with his breath laboured, chest tightening, and a slight chill that he realized the way he felt for his friend was much stronger than what you would feel for just a friend.

The same thoughts that ran through Donghyuck’s mind entered his own. He could hear the voices of his family telling him that he was going to hell, or that there was something wrong with him, and many other things that he’d rather not hear. He sat back, Donghyuck loosening the grip he had on Mark’s wrist.

“I think I’m gonna go home,” Donghyuck spoke, grabbing his bag and exiting the room without breaking eye contact with Mark.

As soon as Donghyuck was gone, Mark turned onto his back, massaging the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

“What do I do now?”

[]

The next day at school, Donghyuck and Mark sat in awkward silence while the other students presented their own projects.

“Mark and Donghyuck?” the teacher called the last two names, the two standing up and pulling up their project.

They presented, and once they finished, Donghyuck noticed Jeno mouth “We’re talking later.” 

After class, the students were released for study hall, Donghyuck rushing out of the room with Jeno.

“What’s going on with you and Mark? The tension between the two of you while you were presenting was...too much to handle,” Jeno began after closing the meeting room door.

“Nothing’s going on,” the younger replied, his tells giving away the fact that he was lying immediately.

“I can tell that you’re lying. What’s going on?” Donghyuck bit his lip. He felt like crying.

“Promise you won’t hate me.” Jeno nodded slowly with an expression that said ‘Duh.’

Donghyuck took a deep breath.

“I like him. I like Mark,” he said, clenching his fists.

“So...you’re gay? And you like Mark?” Jeno queried. Donghyuck choked back tears, nodding.

Donghyuck broke when Jeno brought him into his arms, and he sobbed into the other boy’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what to do. My family… They’ll never accept this,” Donghyuck spoke after he calmed down and the two of them took a seat. Jeno placed a hand on his knee. “Don’t worry about it right now, Hyuck. I know that lying isn’t the best thing to do, but in the current position…”

“Should I tell him? I’m most afraid of his reaction,” Donghyuck said, Jeno clenching his jaw. “That’s really up to you,” he replied, taking the younger’s hand into his own.

“I’m gonna tell him.”

[]

Even though Donghyuck had said that, it had been six months since then, and he still hadn’t confessed.

“Hyuck, you have to tell him, you promised.” Jeno spoke, collecting his things from his desk after the last class had ended.

“I will… Eventually.”

“I told him you want to see him after school at that pancake house down the block. He’s probably waiting for you there already.”

Donghyuck’s eyes went wide and he gathered his things quickly, rushing out of the room.

“Tell me how it goes once it’s over!” Jeno yelled after him, letting out a sigh once he was out of earshot.

“Please let this go well.”

[]

Donghyuck entered the restaurant, finding Mark in the booth they sat at eight months before.

“Have you been here long? I’m sorry if I kept you waiting,” he said, placing his things in the booth next to him after sitting down.

“I’ve only been here for about five minutes, don’t worry about it,” Mark replied, pushing a milkshake towards the boy in front of him.

“Thanks.”

They sat in silence for a minute or so. The two of them had only eliminated a bit of the awkwardness between them, and they still had their moments.

“So what did you want to meet me here for?” Mark asked, taking a sip of his own drink.

“I...have something I’ve been needing to tell you for a while…” Donghyuck said, focusing his gaze on the salt shaker in the middle of the table. He was afraid of looking at Mark, fearing he would notice how nervous he was.

“Mark, I…I like you. Like, as more than a friend,” he said in a low voice, his hands sweating and shaking. He let go of his cup, letting his hands tremble freely. He could feel the tears brimming when Mark didn’t say anything, bringing his hands up to his face to hide them.

“Hyuck,” Mark spoke, reaching over the table and removing Donghyuck’s hands from his face. He took the younger’s hands into his own, lacing their fingers together.

“Hyuck, look at me,” he said, the corners of his mouth raising into a smile.

Once Donghyuck’s eyes met his, the tears came. Seeing the younger on the brink of tears hurt his heart, even more so because it was his fault.

“I like you too.”

[]

They left the restaurant, heading to Mark’s house, where it all started. The older’s family was away, so they decided that would be the best location.

As soon as Mark closed the door behind him, Donghyuck was in his arms. He held him close, the younger gripping his shirt with his face in Mark’s shoulder. Mark chuckled, his heart leaping at the sight before him.

Mark managed the pry Donghyuck off of him, taking his hand and leading him to his room.

They sat on Mark’s bed, fingers still intertwined. Their gazes met, and there was only one thing running through Mark’s head.

_‘Kiss him.’_

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, a blush rising to his cheeks as he cupped Donghyuck’s face with his hands.

“Please do.”

And so their lips met, every emotion they had felt over the past months present against the other’s lips.

The kiss was short and sweet, and a bit sloppy, but they couldn’t have wished for anything better.

They spent the night in each other’s arms, movies playing but neither paying attention. Their focus was only on the other. And it was hours into the night when Mark finally asked the question Donghyuck had been waiting for.

“Be my boyfriend?” he asked, sort of out-of-the-blue. Donghyuck squealed, leaving a peck on the older boy’s lips.

“Of course.”

The two church boys left their worries behind them for the night, embracing their joy and hope for the future.


End file.
